missfiren.
/ˈmɪsfʌɪə/, U.S. /ˈmɪsˌfaɪər/ Failure to discharge or explode; an instance of this. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > misfire
misfire1789
missfire1811
1811 Sporting Mag. 38 290 It was done without a miss or a miss fire.
1881 Times 15 Jan. 5/6 The five-barrelled Gardner fired 339, with one miss-fire in the minute, worked single handed.
1914 W. Owen Let. 28 Aug. (1967) 281 After your deplorable miss-fire fashion.
1933 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 Mar. 148/4 Narrating the missfire of a tired New York business man who hoped his wife and daughter would fly with him.
1995 Off Road (Nexis) Mar. 72 Our project truck developed a missfire due to a partially melted spark-plug boot.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1811